SMH: ‘Second Christmas’: the rise of Easter as a commercial holiday

The original article which appeared on SMH.com.au is available here.

written by Caitlin Fitzsimmons

Easter is beginning to look a lot like Christmas, only with more pastels and ceramic bunnies.

Decorations traditionally reserved for Christmas have been given a makeover for Easter - think wreaths and trees decorated with Easter eggs, hanging lights, and even crackers or bon bons to pull at the table.

Retail shelves are full of Easter-themed home decor, and many consumers are planning to get together with family for a special meal and exchange presents - and not just of the chocolate variety.

Retail analyst Trent Rigby, co-director at consultancy Retail Oasis, said: “Retailers now are beginning to treat Easter as somewhat of a second Christmas.”

For Christians, Christmas and Easter have always been a pair, representing the birth and rebirth of Jesus. But as a commercial holiday, Easter has traditionally paled in comparison to Christmas, being mostly limited to chocolate and Hot Cross Buns.

Now the holiday has emerged as a popular time to exchange gifts. Mr Rigby said many consumers were looking for alternatives to sugary products such as chocolate, and it was now “normalised” to give children toys, clothing and money for Easter. Meanwhile, adult gifts were also growing in popularity, with chocolate and other food items in the lead, but also fashion, beauty, alcohol and personal entertainment.

Mr Rigby said the trend is imported from the United States and Britain, while others point to the influence of internet culture.

Woolworths has noticed a rise in sales of pyjamas, plush toys and craft activities at Easter and believes one driver is a desire to dress children in matching pyjama sets for the egg hunt on Easter Sunday morning to make better photos for social media.

Vanessa Colyer Tay, head of styling at Temple & Webster, said Easter styling and decorating was taking off in Australia and driven heavily by social media, particularly “snackable content” like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

This year, shops such as Kmart, Target, Big W and Woolworths are heavily pushing Easter homewares, including table runners, napkins, dinner sets, decorations, and garden decorations such as rabbits.

Food and craft photographer Amanda Michetti from Kogarah said these stores had always sold holiday-themed things, but it seemed like the range had almost tripled in the last two years. “That’s got to be based on consumer desire,” she said.

Ms Michetti believes the decorating trend originated with craft bloggers and influencers like herself.

She decorates her house for Easter - as well as Christmas, Halloween and her daughter Sierra’s birthday - but only since she got into craft using the Cricut cutting machine. (She showcases her creations on the Cricut Cult Instagram account and has done some photography work for the brand).

Yolanda Colosino, owner of the Easter Egg Warehouse (Sweet Chocolate Warehouse in the off season), said she had been in business for 40 years and Easter was growing every year. While mostly selling online and to corporate clients, the store in Castle Hill is open to the public and resembles one of those giant “Christmas Cave” stores but for Easter.

“A lot of people are now decorating their homes in the fashion that they would decorate their homes at Christmas,” Ms Colosino said.

One of the most popular decorations was a range of ceramic bunnies up to 1.2 metres high that sit in the garden or by the front door.

At Woolworths, a customer favourite is the seasonal-themed garden meerkat statues - the Easter ones show the meerkats dressed as rabbits holding eggs. The supermarket has now sold 70,000 of the gaudy statues across Easter, Halloween and Christmas.

Woolworths merchandise manager for home essentials Christiane Seeger said the supermarket was selling through its Easter homeware stock quicker than expected.

Woolworths reports Easter decor sales had increased 20 per cent and Easter entertaining products had grown 14 per cent in the past 12 months.

“This year is particularly important as customers have more flexibility in travel to see loved ones and celebrate with less restrictions for the first time in recent years,” Ms Seeger said.

Mr Rigby said it was worth noting that the rise of Easter coincided with “continued consumer pushback and controversy around celebrating Australia Day as a holiday”.

“Many people now see Easter as the first holiday period in the new year that they can really get together with friends and family to celebrate,” he said.